How to Easily Add Metafields to Your Shopify Order Email Templates

You’re busy running your business — the last thing you need is a confusing tech headache when you just want your Shopify order emails to show a little more info.

Good news: adding metafields to your Shopify emails doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s a simple, step-by-step way to display custom metafields inside your order notifications — no tech degree required.

Common Use Case: Showing Cancellation Reasons in Refund Emails

By default, Shopify doesn’t display cancellation reasons when you refund or cancel an order. We get asked about this all the time.

Here’s the fix — just store that info in a metafield, and use the snippet below to display it right in the email.

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{{ metafields.custom.cancelation_reason }}

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Now your customer sees exactly why their order was canceled — no need for manual follow-ups or messy workarounds.

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Need Product or Variant Info in the Email?

If you want to include metafields for each product or variant in the order, use this:

{% for line in subtotal_line_items %}  
	{{ line.product.metafields.custom.product_label }}   <— Product-level metafield!  
	{{ line.variant.metafields.custom.item_status }}     <— Variant-level metafield!
{% endfor %}

This lets you show custom product labels or variant-specific statuses, right in your customer’s inbox.

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Heads Up: Not All Metafield Types Work in Emails

Shopify now supports rich metafield types like images, files, and JSON — which is awesome... except in email templates.

Important: Order email templates only support basic data types:

• string
• boolean
• integer

Do not try to include images, files, or other complex field types in your order emails — they won’t render, and it’ll just confuse you (and your customer).

Why This Matters

Giving your customers clear, customized info — like why their order was canceled — builds trust and cuts down on support tickets. It’s a small tweak that makes a big difference.

And that’s exactly what we’re about at FireNet Designs: making Shopify work for you, not the other way around.

Need help setting this up or want it done for you?

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👉 Let’s Chat — We’ll make it simple.

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